Journal
The latest news and stories from our workshop, and beyond.
The latest news and stories from our workshop, and beyond.
Robert Chapman (known around the Otter workshop as Rob) joined us last November to make a surfboard as a gift for his son who’s currently living out in Melbourne, Australia. While he was here, Rob told us about a challenge that he was training for; he was planning on running a lap of Wales (his home nation) in a series of marathons over successive weekends to raise money for the Motor Neurone Disease Association in memory of his friend Tony...
It's festival season once again, and with the hope that this year's quota of rain has already fallen on Glastonbury, we're making preparations to...
Our friend Tony had quite the complete workshop experience with us over the first six months of this year; he fitted in sessions and days at the...
The Friday before last, on the evening of June 10th, we held our second annual “Boards, Bangers and Beers” open workshop evening. The weather...
We’ve always been fascinated by those most ancient of Hawaiian finless wave sliding craft, alaias and olos. Without fins to hold them straight...
You don't have to go very far, or for very long, to feel as though you've broken out of your routine and had a bit of an adventure. A couple of weeks ago a few of us headed off straight from work on a weekday evening and enjoyed an overnight camping trip, surfing until it was too dark to see the waves peaking in front of us and then spending the night sat around the camp fire. Rising at first light we broke "camp" and left the beach looking as...
You're all invited. In a couple of week's time we'll be sweeping up the workshop and lighting the bbq outside the big blue doors for an evening of...
We drank a lot of tea during our May “Make Your Own” wooden surfboard workshop the week before last. Marcus and David were with us building...
Two weeks ago, whilst the surfing population of southwest England stared in frustration at the small, wind-blown, waves lapping on their shores,...
James first met Hannah and Justin Floyd at last year’s DO Lectures in West Wales, where they were part of the team of volunteers helping the event...
Surfers Against Sewage are a charity very dear to our hearts here at Otter Surfboards; based just over the hill in the neighbouring village of St Agnes and initially founded to tackle poor water quality on our local beaches, they have developed into one of the country's leading marine environmental charities campaigning on a wide range of issues. We call the people who work there our friends, and as well as sharing waves with them we are also...
Exploring the broad spectrum of worldwide contemporary surf culture, the team behind Gestalten’s latest offering, a heavy coffee table book...
Last Wednesday James took on the drive from Cornwall up to London, pushing his way through West London traffic at rush hour to arrive at...
In the middle of March, James and our good friend Tony took a few weeks off the making of Tony’s wooden surfboard with us to head over the Irish...
This last week the British Ecological Society’s Journal of Ecology published some research that spells out a bleak future for British woodlands; a...
George Greenough is the barefoot genius and inventor whom many people argue was the catalyst for the shortboard revolution of the mid-1960s. Born in Montecito (near Santa Barbara, California) in 1941 to a wealthy and well-connected family, young George was known to be somewhat of an outsider with a great affinity for the ocean. After a brief flirtation with stand-up surfing, by the late 1950s he was primarily surfing kneeboards and air mats...
Living out of the back of a van seems to have become incredibly en-vogue in recent years. A sure sign of that is when a parody film, such as the...
It’d be fair to say that we’re fans of a proper tea break here at Otter Surfboards; downing tools for ten minutes a couple of times during the...
It's fairly common for visitors to the Otter Workshop to comment on James' lack of footwear. For most of the year, in the workshop, on the beach and...
